The Colon Club

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone on this board was diagnosed in their 20's or 30's? I was diagnosed right before my 26th birthday and I'm 27 now. I have a colonoscopy coming up tomorrow and waiting until February to follow up on a liver spot. After chemo last August I was feeling so good and positive but I think the stress of uncertain results and waiting has taken its toll on me in the last couple months. I'm having anxiety imagining the worst, and I think what makes it harder is that I can't really vent to anyone in my age group because I feel like it's hard for them to relate. I'm struggling emotionally and I guess this post is just me reaching out for support. I'm a high school math teacher and normally my job doesn't stress me out, but I've been so mentally exhausted that I think everything is just catching up to me :/

Yes. Diagnosed on my 27th birthday actually.

Hope the colonoscopy will be clear and the prep is going well, it’s always a wonderful experience it must be so difficult not to have anyone your own age understanding what your going through.

I had a polyp removed four months ago, I’m 25 going on 26 in dec, had my doctor almost eye roll me when I said something was wrong, what a shock he got I had a bit of a meltdown being really sad nobody believed me for such a long time, and swearing I would sent them all a agry mail if it was cancer. the wait for my report to come back was hell and even now i experience lots of anxiety.

I'm a little older than you at age 35, but I started experiencing symptoms when I was 34. I definitely got told by my GI doc that I "didn't need a colonoscopy" and I got treated for internal hemorrhoids. When the symptoms didn't go away, I had to push for a colonoscopy. I only wish I had gotten one sooner, although I'm not sure it would have made much of a difference. What prompted me was that study that came out in February about the rise in colorectal cancer in people in their 20's and 30''s.

It's true that it's hard for people to relate! Especially because we are young, we don't really show any outward signs of being sick. I'm constantly getting told "You look great!" and I always want so say, "Well, I don't FEEL great on the inside." That's why forums like this are so helpful.

Just to add a quick reminder to current members here, now .....

Our founder MOLLY was diagnosed on her 23rd birthday
this blog post tells a bit more about her story in the early days
http://colonclub.com/the-colossal-colon ... n-history/

In the summer of 2000, less than a year after finishing chemotherapy, Molly inline skated from New York to Colorado, where she lived when she first had symptoms. During “Rolling to Recovery,” she raised over $60,000, educated a lot of people, and found a new friend.

AND .... the idea for this very forum Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum
started life as her blog during “Rolling to Recovery”

now you know where WE come from

Cheers all
CRguy

I was diagnosed a couple of months after my 39th birthday.

I was diagnosed a month after I turned 29. That was rough. Walking into the oncology center when you are 30 years younger than everyone in the infusion room is tough. Planning for the future is pretty tough too. But, we are still young and have the strength to fight, even if it feels like the immortality has been stripped from us.

I'm so sorry for you guys. It is so young to have to go through cancer. I remember the first time I went for an infusion there was a young man in his 20's getting chemo. It brought tears to my eyes. But you are all strong, and treatments have gotten so much better and more and more people are beating this awful disease. Stay strong and positive.

Hey Bina,

I was diagnosed when I was 29. Finished chemo now for a couple of weeks and I'm hoping terribly for a long cancer free fully fullfilled life.

No one that hasn't a chronic and potentially deadly illness in our age will really understand where we are coming from.

I've heard some of the supiddest things coming from people I thought cared about me. Friends who I though where friends were gone after finding out about my diagnosis. Most of people try to empathise and end up building an uncomfortable sympathetic posture that mostly irritates me.

I try to see it as an advantage. Younger people have a better prognosis, heal and adapt faster. So, it can be viewed as an advantage. This is the viewpoint I choose for me. Of course I have some moments of anxiety as well, but I try to put everything in perspective and rationalize.

If I die, the world will go on as always and I know my loved ones will have a though time, but they will find a way without me. And this kind of thinking helps me to take the pressure out of death. Of course I feel very pleased with my life so far and that helps a lot.

But most of the time I think I am just fine. That i am cured and I'm going to live long still, see my daughter grow up and enjoy time passing us by alongside my dearest husband. I try to visualize this things and keep them in my mind as vivid as I can, trips I want to do, conversations I want to have with my daughter and places I want to show her...

And that keeps me going

My goal, more than living a long life, is to be happy. So I need to cherish everyday and I do not let anxiety take the best of me and my family in this time we all have together, and no-one knows when that is going to end, for whatever reason.

If I die soon, I will surely squeeze every effing thing of the good days I may still have of this life. And that is enough for me to fall asleep comfortably tonight.

I hope you as well, find a way to cherish all the good things you still may have...

Love,
Ana

I hope your prep and colonoscopy go well!*hugs* I was diagnosed at 36 in 2014. I have been in remission since surgery and didn't need chemo. I went to the ER with horrible left sided pain and rectal bleeding. They referred me to a GI surgeon for a colonoscopy. The ER doctor said it probably wasn't cancer because of my age.

veckon wrote:Yes. Diagnosed on my 27th birthday actually.

I noticed that you get treated at MSK. So do I, I wonder if we have the same oncologist? I see Dr. Stadler. Do you live in the city? I'm from North Jersey, and I have yet to meet anyone in this area going through colon cancer in their 20's.

[Ana & Alex] wrote:Hey Bina,

I was diagnosed when I was 29. Finished chemo now for a couple of weeks and I'm hoping terribly for a long cancer free fully fullfilled life.

No one that hasn't a chronic and potentially deadly illness in our age will really understand where we are coming from.

I've heard some of the supiddest things coming from people I thought cared about me. Friends who I though where friends were gone after finding out about my diagnosis. Most of people try to empathise and end up building an uncomfortable sympathetic posture that mostly irritates me.

I try to see it as an advantage. Younger people have a better prognosis, heal and adapt faster. So, it can be viewed as an advantage. This is the viewpoint I choose for me. Of course I have some moments of anxiety as well, but I try to put everything in perspective and rationalize.

If I die, the world will go on as always and I know my loved ones will have a though time, but they will find a way without me. And this kind of thinking helps me to take the pressure out of death. Of course I feel very pleased with my life so far and that helps a lot.

But most of the time I think I am just fine. That i am cured and I'm going to live long still, see my daughter grow up and enjoy time passing us by alongside my dearest husband. I try to visualize this things and keep them in my mind as vivid as I can, trips I want to do, conversations I want to have with my daughter and places I want to show her...

And that keeps me going

My goal, more than living a long life, is to be happy. So I need to cherish everyday and I do not let anxiety take the best of me and my family in this time we all have together, and no-one knows when that is going to end, for whatever reason.

If I die soon, I will surely squeeze every effing thing of the good days I may still have of this life. And that is enough for me to fall asleep comfortably tonight.

I hope you as well, find a way to cherish all the good things you still may have...

Love,
Ana

Thanks for being open about these feelings. I'm constantly stuck in a roller coaster of emotions. At times I feel invincible and like I've defeated this monster and that it'll never be back, while at other times, I go into panic mode and start imagining the complete opposite scenario. I really hate the negative feelings and fears that always come up. I've been dating my current bf for over a year now and all I want is to be able to enjoy our time together and plan ahead for the future. But it feels like a lot of our conversations are about my scans and waiting for results and I'm even afraid to plan ahead. I feel like waiting for results is like a dark cloud over my head; I can't function or fully enjoy anything until it passes. I know that some people are going through much worse so I am still grateful for my current situation.. just feel like I need to really vent sometimes in order to stay sane.

Dr. Stadler is not my primary oncologist but I actually have had appointments with her and she is fantastic.

veckon wrote:Dr. Stadler is not my primary oncologist but I actually have had appointments with her and she is fantastic.

Yes she is! Although, she's always seems like she's in a rush but that's to be expected when you're getting treated at MSK.

I was diagnosed 4 months after my 30th birthday...so technically still 29 .
My Mum went through treatment four months before my diagnosis for Stage 2A colon cancer.
Treatment lasted about a month, felt like an eternity at the time, little did I know I would be on a 10-12 month treatment plan three months later!
I had no symptoms, maybe some minor bleeding that would happen every other month, but I insisted I get checked out because of my Mum.

I understand what Ana says about being young being an advantage, but sometimes when I let my mind win I end up flipping it around, "I am so young, how the f^* does this process start now!".
It's a double edged sword, the vigor running through our veins constantly at odds with this devastating news. My heart beats like a fit 30 year old, the rest of my body doesn't know what's happening down there!
More often than not though, I am positive.

The age thing is so important though, you really do need to speak to people around your own age group, that's why this forum is fantastic.
All the best

I was diagnosed at 32, I had symptoms for years leading up to my eventual diagnosis though. I’m also a teacher and know all too well how the job seems insane on top of waiting for test results.